


Burns

by ThatGoblin



Series: The Club [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, BDSM AU, Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, Dom Link Neal, F/M, Physical Hurt Comfort, Pining, Protective Link, Top Link Neal, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, work place accidents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24196663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGoblin/pseuds/ThatGoblin
Summary: Erin's back at work and things have gone down hill with the store doing an overhaul to become a 24 hours coffee shop. Link steps in when he sees she hasn't exactly started to take care of herself like she truly should.
Relationships: Link Neal/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Club [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740790
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Burns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redtessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtessa/gifts).



“Erin! Why is there several buckets of coffee on the counter?!” Iliza called. I had gotten home from work a half hour before Iliza usually did after her morning errands and decided to hop in the shower to wash off the smell of coffee and pastries. After finishing a double overnight shift at work, I was beat. To say thank you, for some reason, the manager gave me several large jugs of coffee to take home. They were branded and designed to look like buckets, which wasn’t that attractive really, but if anything I could use the containers for crafty things later. 

“Sorry! Got them from work after finishing up a double! Feel free to have some!” I called back, washing the conditioner from my hair. My next shift was that evening and I only had just under 8 hours to sleep, get up, and get back to work. I was hoping I’d be promoted to shift lead soon, but it seemed no matter how hard I worked or how much initiative I took, Roger was going to get it over me. He was a college freshman and was a stereotypical good looking guy, so of course I was going to be passed over again by some dumb, good looking guy. Again. 

Turning the water off, I wiped some of the water off my body before wrapping myself in a towel. Walking out, I expected to find Iliza making an iced coffee with the amount that we had. Instead I found her on the counter while eating some yogurt as she spoke to Link.

Nearly jumping out of my skin, I rushed to my bedroom. It had been a little over two weeks since I’d last seen him and while most people might have day dreamed over him non-stop, I was throwing myself back into work again. Except for small moments on my days off where I had picked up sketching again. All of my pieces featuring his hands or lower half of his face or just some part of him. None of it was inherently sexual either. Link was just a wonderful person to study and draw. 

In my room, I closed the door to give myself privacy and relief to dry off and dress. Granted Link had seen a very private version of me, that was in a different setting than my apartment was. Did I dress up a bit to go out there? Did Iliza plan on me being here? The questions ran through my head before I looked at the clock and realized what time it was. Groaning softly, I stayed with the hoodie and shorts combo before making an appearance. I would at least say hi and grab a banana before passing out. It was the polite thing to do.

“Hey you, you’re home early,” Iliza said, giving me a smile and a wave as I walked out. Link looked over and did the same. “Link and I were about to go to brunch, you wanna come with?”

“As much fun as that sounds, I actually finished my overnight shift, remember?” I said. Brunch with Iliza and Link? Why couldn’t I be more carefree and less sleep dependent? 

“Oh yeah,” Iliza said, making a face. “You must be exhausted.”

“Overnight shift?” Link asked, looking at me.

“I work at a local coffee shop. We’re starting a 24 hours schedule and we’re in the prep stages so I was scheduled to work last night after closing and this morning,” I said as I got water from the fridge and a banana. “I also have a 10 hour shift that I have to be at in 8 hours, so I’m going to go pass out till then. I would love to join you guys though. Brunch sounds more fun than work.”

“Erin, you have to stop taking those shifts,” Iliza said with a sigh as she hopped off the counter. “What did I tell you?”

“To take better care of myself,” I said, glancing at Link for a moment. “But I didn’t choose the schedule. The store manager did and either I work the hours I’m given or someone else will and I’ll be out of a job.”

“Maybe you should get another job?” Iliza said. “This one isn’t working well for you.”

“Look, Iliza, I know you’re trying to help, but I need to go sleep and being out here to argue with you over my work isn’t helping,” I said, trying not to get loud or harsh. Confrontation already made me uncomfortable and when it was with my roommate as well as in front of someone else, it made me want to go crawl in a hole and hide. “I’m just gonna go get some sleep, you guys go enjoy your brunch.” Without letting her get another word in, I walked off back to my room. Giving me a night of good fucking wasn’t going to magically change things and it seemed Iliza was catching onto that. I was doing better, but apparently not as good as she would have liked.

It wasn’t something I could take care of right then, so I focused on what I could and that was getting sleep. Pulling my hoodie off, I closed my curtains to make it as dark as possible before eating my banana and drinking my water. Satisfied for the time being, I was about to flop into bed when there was a knock at the door. I held back a groan, covering my face as frustration threatened to make me cry. “Come in,” I said after a few deep breaths. 

I was expecting Iliza to come apologize or try to push her point home, but instead it was Link. He walked in with that soft smile that was so disarming that I couldn’t even try to be mad that he was there. “Hey, glad I caught you before you were asleep,” he said, coming in before shutting the door behind him. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I didn’t want to seem rude. “What’s up?” I asked, moving to grab my chair from my drawing desk to offer it to him.

“I wanted to check on you,” Link said, shaking his head at the offer before gesturing for me to sit. “Iliza’s pretty worried about you.”

“I’m fine, it’s work,” I said with a shrug as I sat. “I don’t have the luxury of doing what I want to do for a career and I gotta make ends meet.”

“I understand that,” Link said with a nod. “Have you considered what working so hard is doing to your body and your overall health?”

“Yes, I have and a lot of other people do the same with a lot more at stake than just paying simple bills,” I said, doing my best to keep from getting upset again. “I am an adult and I am doing a job I hate, but it’s a job. I’ve tried looking for things in my field of study, but no one will hire me. So it’s either get a job to pay bills or don’t have income and be homeless.”

“I don’t think Iliza would let you be homeless,” Link pointed out.

“Not the focus here,” I said with a sigh. “I do not have the freedom to just quit my job and go pursue something that I want because there are no jobs available for it.”

“Well, what is it that you want to do?” Link asked as he slid his hands into his front pants pockets.

“Draw. I used to be an artist for a comic book series, but I got laid off and like I said, there’s not really anyone hiring for a traditional artist,” I said, leaning against the back of the chair. What was he doing? Why was he asking about this? We knew the bare minimum about each other and here he was in my room, asking me about what my dream job was. 

“You know, usually traditional artists don’t get hired, they just create and then people come,” Link said with a soft chuckle.

“I don’t have the money or time to just create and hope someone likes it,” I said. “I have time for doodles and small sketches, but that’s it.”

“No one said you had to start big,” he said as he cocked his head to the side a bit. It instantly brought me back to when he saw me fresh out of the shower, realizing I had freckles on my face. “Let me see what you’ve drawn.”

“What? Why?” I asked, heat going right to my cheeks. Oh god, I was NOT showing him the sketches I’d made of him. 

“I wanna see how good you are,” Link said with a smirk. “I mean, if you were hired before, you had to have had talent.”

“What if I don’t want to show you them? I need to get to sleep, remember?” I said, hoping he’d let up.

“I remember, but humor me,” Link said as he moved closer to me. I swallowed as he leaned down, bracing himself on my desk and chair to bracket me into place. “If you show me, I’ll help you fall asleep.” I swallowed hard, my mouth going dry as I looked at him. Someone should not be that alluring when they were trying to get something from someone. I could smell his cologne and feel the heat of his breath when he spoke, giving me goosebumps as his eyes locked onto mine. Damn this man and his power to make me weak in the knees with a simple quirk of the corner of his lips. 

“Okay,” I said softly, staying still as I waited for him to give me room. He stood back up straight before I turned in my swivel chair to face my desk. I grabbed my sketchbook from the small self that was on my desk before turning back to Link to hand it over. Taking it from me, he opened the cover and began to drink in my art. He was silent for a while, just flipping through the pages with a studious face. When he got to the drawings of himself, I could tell when he raised a brow as his smirk widened. I wanted to take the book and throw it out the window, to shove him out and lock the door, but it was too late for that. 

“These are really good,” he said after closing the book and handing it back. “I’d certainly look into buying them.” I took the book back, blushing harder as I put it back in its cubby hole. “But, you really do have a lot of talent. You should be able to share that with people. I know for a fact that people would love it.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re in there,” I said, trying not to choke on my own breath at his compliment. 

“No, even if I wasn’t in there, I would still say that. Not a lot of people have your skill or flare,” Link said. “I truly think that you are an amazing artist and that it’s something you should throw yourself into fully.”

“Thank you,” I said softly. I looked away as I stood up, needing to get some space from him or I was sure I’d burst into flames. “I’ll think about it and look into it.”

“Promise?” Link said, reaching out to catch my hand. Looking at our hands, my eyes went to his face and saw that he was being serious. Link was genuinely wanting the best for me and I didn’t know how to take that.

“Promise,” I said softly with a nod.

“Good girl,” he said. “Now, I said I’d help you fall asleep, yeah? It’s my turn to hold up that end of the bargain.” Still holding my hand, he walked us to my bed where he sat me down before kneeling in front of me. Licking his lips, Link looked up at me with a dangerous smirk before pressing his lips to my knees as he spread my legs. His scruff scraped against my skin deliciously as he nipped at my thighs before pressing his face against me over my shorts.

The moan it drew from me was so loud that I actually startled myself. Link chuckled as he nuzzled and mouthed at me as I slapped a hand over my mouth. There was no way I was going to be that loud with Iliza still in the apartment. In fact, having Link in my room while she waited outside felt wrong. Almost like I was a teen with my boyfriend over while my mom was in the living room. 

“Go on, get loud. Let everyone know how good I am at eating your pussy,” Link said with a chuckle, pulling back to tug my shorts and underwear off. He pulled my legs over his shoulders as his hand slid under my tank top to massage and grope my breasts. There was no holding back as he began to lap at me, even blowing on my wetness before thrusting his tongue between my folds. 

“Fuck! Link!” I cried out as he latched onto my clit. My hands went to his hair, weaving into the dark locks as I held on for dear life as he lapped at me. “Oh fuck,” I groaned as he spread me with his free hand to thrust his tongue deeper. The man was made for eating pussy and was showing it off. His tongue worked quickly and precisely enough that I didn’t have long to go before I was suddenly cumming on his face. Shaking and gasping, I whined as he kept going. 

Link added a finger to thrust into me, making me keen as he pressed up and found this amazing set of nerves that had me cumming again. I was sobbing as I jerked and tried to pull away, but he wasn’t having it. His tongue kept going, another finger inside of me to work me to another orgasm. 

“Link, please,” I cried as he pinched a nipple hard before moving to the other. It was the third one that he finally let up. As I laid there shaking and actually cumming on his face, squirting a bit, it felt like I was going to pass out. Unable to fight anymore, I let the man do as he pleased. Which in this case was to slowly put my lower half down on the bed before pulling away. His face glistened from my wetness as he climbed up above me to press his lips to mine in a claiming, deep kiss. 

“Good job, Kitten,” Link said, his voice thick. He kissed me again, pushing his tongue into my mouth to spread the taste of myself before finally pulling back. All I could do was lay there and let the aftershocks take their course. He grabbed a towel from my dresser top before taking the bottle of water I had, wetting the towel to clean me up. 

“Wha-wait,” I said before gasping as he ran the cloth over my sensitive and engorged snatch. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Link asked before wiping my face as well. 

“You didn’t, uh, well cum,” I said as he put my shorts and underwear back on me. 

“It’s okay. It wasn’t about me,” he said with a soft smile. “It was about you.”

“Oh,” I said.

“I bet you’re exhausted after that, aren’t you?” Link said before cleaning his own face. “Go ahead and get your sleep. Pretty sure you’ve got work in a few hours.”

“Okay,” I nodded, yawning before crawling into my bed fully and pulling the blankets over me. “Hey, Link?” I said, as he turned to leave.

“Yeah, Kitten?” he said, pausing at the door to look at me. 

“Have Iliza give you my number so we can actually talk. Like. . . As friends,” I said, hoping that he wouldn’t rebuff me. After all, we barely knew each other and had only had sex really for the majority of our interactions. 

“Alright,” Link said with that same, gentle smile that seemed to be his default for me. “I’ll have her give you mine as well. Now get some sleep.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said with a yawn before he left. It didn’t take me long before I passed out.

All too soon, my alarm went off for work. I usually took the bus, much to Iliza’s chagrin, and the one I always took would be there in 45 minutes. Having set everything up to just put my clothes on and go, I was heading out the door in 10 minutes. I usually would grab my free meal at the start of my day before I started working, but with the hectic nature of the overhaul, I was lucky to get a smoothie before starting my shift. 

It was post school busy, a local college finishing up day classes and a nearby high school letting out as well had us slammed. I had no time to drink my smoothie let alone go to the bathroom for nearly five hours. We were short staffed and I ended up working the bar myself while doing all the drinks as construction went on all around us. My feet didn’t touch the ground it seemed till almost 6 hours into my shift. My back ached and my feet were on fire. I had burned myself all over my arms and there was a wicked looking cut I had to hurry up and bandage between drinks. 

When the other overnighters came in, I was so tempted to just ask to leave early. Things had settled to a simmer and while we were still busy, it wasn’t nearly as bad as earlier. I was exhausted and still had four more hours to go and I hadn’t had a break or lunch yet. A headache was creeping in steadily as I tasted my smoothie, only to make a face and toss it. It was warm and certainly did not taste like it was still good. 

I was letting the other workers that had come in take over for a bit while I went to the break room to either cry or just pretend to be dead for a few minutes. Just as I had put my feet up, my manager came into the back.

“Erin, already slacking?” Paul said with a chuckle as he heated up a burrito in the microwave.

“Yup,” I said, wanting nothing more than to crawl into hole to hide. “Been slammed today.”

“I saw,” he said with a nod. “Good work out there. Doing that all by yourself is hard.” Was it good enough to get a promotion?

“Thanks, just doing my job,” I said, looking over my arms. I was usually more careful, but we never had been slammed like that with just one person making orders. Usually it was at least two people. A morning, a mid, and a closer so that everyone overlapped enough to make sure we weren’t short staffed. There were red burns from the coffee pots and espresso machines as well as the coffee itself. Nothing that a little aloe vera wouldn’t fix, but I looked like I suddenly had sprouted rashes. Not to mention the cut from slicing an orange for a drink. It was right in the webbing of my thumb and forefinger and had gotten orange juice all in it. 

“Good luck finishing up. We couldn’t do it without you,” Paul said with a nod as the microwave dinged. He grabbed his burrito and left before I could respond. Sighing, I knew Iliza was going to yell at me when I got home, but the amount of fucks I had left was 0 and I was close to just walking out. I had enough in savings, maybe I could take my time to look for another position somewhere else? Even a receptionist job would be better than this. Hell, delivering subpoenas would be preferable at that point. 

A few moments later and I was back on duty. Feeling even worse than when I went to break, I stuck it out till the end of my shift. I would be back the next day as an extended mid shift which I was not excited about. Less sleep in a weird time, but I had a three day weekend coming up that I was going to take advantage of. Unless they changed the schedule. I double checked that and found that I kept my days off, which gave me enough energy to finish cleaning up then clocking out.

“Hey, Erin, you might want someone to walk you to your bus stop,” Mandy, the night manager said as she looked at me in the break room. 

“What? Why?” I asked, frowning.

“There’s been some guy sitting in the parking lot for almost half an hour without getting out and just watching the store,” she said. Great. Maybe I could call Iliza for a ride home. I lived a ten minute car ride away, but by foot it was an almost an hour and bus it was almost 45 minutes because the route circled away then back around. 

“Hold on, I’ll see if my roommate can come get me,” I said. The last thing I needed was a reddit ‘Let’s not meet’ story coming to life. Pulling my phone from my locker, I unlocked it to find a text that was sent about half an hour ago. 

‘Hey, it’s Link. Iliza told me to come pick you up after work. I’m out front.’

“Does the guy have black hair with glasses and blue eyes?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose. 

“Uh, I don’t know about the eyes, but yeah that fits his description. Do you want me to call the police?” Mandy asked.

“No, I know who the idiot is,” I said with a sigh. “He’s my ride. Thanks for looking out for me though.”

“No problem. I’m still gonna walk you to the door, just in case,” she said. I liked Mandy a lot. She was sweet and cared about the workers a lot more than the other managers who were more hands off and distance. She’d just been hired on as the night manager when we expanded our hours, so at first I was bitter because I wasn’t promoted like I had inquired about, but then I got to know her and felt like I could trust her. 

At the front door, I looked out to see Link sitting in a black BMW while on his phone. “Thanks Mandy, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said with a small smile to her as I walked out. Going over to the car, I knocked on the window gently to get Link’s attention. Looking up, he unlocked the door for me. 

“Hey,” Link said as I got in and shut the door. 

“You know I have a bus I can take,” I said as I buckled up. “Iliza just worries because it’s late and doesn’t like public transportation.”

“I know, but she wouldn’t let up about worrying and so I offered to pick you up to make her feel better,” Link said as he put the car into reverse then pulled out of the parking lot. 

“My boss thought you were a creeper before I was leaving,” I said with a soft snort, relaxing into the leather seat of the car. It must have cost a small fortune from how comfortable and luxurious it felt. It was a two door with seats made to cradle you as it went much faster than the speed limit. 

“Did you not get my text?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“We can’t have our phones on us while we’re on the floor. Only if it’s an emergency so I didn’t see it till I was clocking out,” I said. 

“Ah,” he said with a nod. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Uh. . .” I had to stop and think. Had I eaten at all that day? No. Not since the few sips of a smoothie. I sometimes didn’t notice how hungry I was or if I hadn’t eaten or drank water when we got that busy. 

“Did you at least drink water?” He asked, glancing at me as we stopped at a light. “Jesus, your arms!” 

“It’s not that bad, just superficial burns,” I said. “They’ll be gone in a few days with some aloe vera wrappings.”

“How did you do that? You’ve been at that place for a while now, but I didn’t see any burns on you before and what happened to your hand?” Link asked. 

“I was the only one making drinks during rush and burnt myself a bit. It’s not a big deal. Same for my hand, not a big deal. I just nicked it with a knife while cutting fruit for a drink. It’s fine, just had to be bandaged for a bit. It looks worse than it really is,” I said, wishing that he’d stop making a fuss about it. If he and Iliza could stop being so protective and let me breath, it’d be fine.

“This isn’t okay, Erin,” Link said with a sigh. “You could have really hurt yourself and the job would have been at fault. They shouldn’t have made you do that alone.”

“Well, they messed up the staffing, I can’t do anything about it,” I snapped, feeling the headache take hold at the base of my skull before working around to my eyes and temples.

“Yes you can, there’s freakin’ OSHA you can call even. I know it’s a chain coffee place and you have your hands tied, but. . .” Link paushed, taking a deep breath. “I don’t like seeing how you’re working yourself to the bone and getting hurt. Iliza said so too. We’re not trying to be privileged and talk down to you, we’re concerned. You’re our friend and we don’t like seeing you struggle or hurt.”

Oh. Well then, that certainly was a view changer. I hadn’t thought about that. All that was in my head was that they didn’t understand or just thought it was an easy fix. I didn’t realize that they were saying this because they were worried truly worried about my health. 

“Sorry I snapped,” I said after a few moments of silence. “It’s been a rough day and I see what you’re saying. I appreciate you trying to look out for me.”

“Good, now have you at least had water today at work?” He asked. I was silent as I faced forward, trying not to meet his eyes. “Erin?”

“Yes?” I said as we parked outside my building. 

“Look at me and tell me that you drank water at least,” Link said, turning in his seat to face me after he turned the car off. I hesitated, unable to keep a serious face and instead squinted and bunched up my mouth before turning to him.

“I did?” I said. God I was too awkward for my own good. Link looked at me and groaned as he ran a hand over his face.

“You have a death wish, it’s the only explanation,” he said with a sigh as he rubbed his face. “You literally are playing chicken with the grim reaper and giving him the middle finger the whole time.”

“Thanks?” I asked, confused.

“Get out of the car,” he groaned as he opened his door to get out as well. I shrugged before getting out. We walked into the building and took the elevator to my floor. Watching him, I couldn’t tell if he was mad or frustrated or just tired. He didn’t say a word though as we got to my apartment. Keys in hand, I unlocked it quickly before letting us in.

“Thanks Link, I owe you one,” Iliza said as we walked in before seeing us. She was at the dining room table on her laptop, probably working on photos, when she lifted her head. “Oh my god, Erin! What happened!?” She cried, getting up and rushing over to us as Link shut the door.

“Work happened,” I said as I set my stuff down on the counter. “I’ll let you look it over and yell about everything, but I wanna get out of these clothes and showered so I don’t smell like coffee anymore.”

“No, no, no, you explain now,” Iliza said. “You’ve never gotten this hurt at work before. I’ve noticed when you have a burn here and there, it’s part of the job when you handle hot stuff, but this is almost covering your arms. What happened to your hand?!”

“I cut it with a knife. It’s fine. I’ll change the bandage and check to see if it really needs it after my shower,” I said. “I’m really tired and would like to just go to sleep while I can.”

“Wait I thought you were off tomorrow,” Iliza said, moving to stand between me and the bathroom.

“I was, but they changed my schedule two days ago, so now I work tomorrow with a three day weekend,” I said. 

“No, that’s not right! You’re being taken advantage of!” Iliza cried. “You worked three doubles this week and now they have you staying up late as hell and forcing you to work long hours!”

“She hasn’t eaten or drank water all day either,” Link added in. 

“Are you kidding me!?” Iliza screamed. She took a moment, holding her breath before letting it out slowly before repeating it a few more times. “I’m sorry I screamed. I know you want to work your job and earn your keep. I am not upset with you. I am upset with your work because you are very dear to me and they should not be treating you like this. It was not this bad till they changed things around and now you are suffering for it. Please, Erin, let me help you out here. If you want to quit and take a month or two to look for a much better job, I will cover the costs. It’s not a problem.”

“What?” I said, looking up at her and taking a step back. I was stunned. She was offering to help me out with this huge situation and wasn’t hesitating about it. I’d never had that done before. Iliza was willing to do a lot for me and I was flabbergasted. It didn’t seem real or possible. “N-no, Iliza-”

“Erin, you’re my friend. One of my best friends. There’s not a lot that I wouldn’t do for you,” Iliza said, reaching out and taking my hand gently, pulling me back to her. “Please, let me help you.” I couldn’t answer her, I could barely get any words out from shock and not wanting to cry. Not even my own parents had done this for me, but Iliza was willing to do it without a second thought. 

“Um. . .” I managed to get out as tears began to fall down my face before I nodded. “Please,” I squeaked out. The job had taken its toll and while I wanted to make my own money and take care of myself, I was going to get hurt even worse if I kept working the job I had. The pay wasn’t worth me continually getting hurt and worked to death, I saw that finally. Iliza pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around me. 

“You deserve to rest and be happy,” she said into my hair. “If I can help, I want to.” I nodded again, sniffling against her. To know that I had someone to catch me when I fell, to have permission to let myself rest was something I didn’t know I needed. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up. I’ll figure something out while Link helps you in the shower.”

“Bwha?” I said, looking up at her wide eyed. 

“Link’ll help you shower because you obviously can’t be left alone, besides I’m sure you’d rather his help than mine,” she said with a sly grin. “I’ll just hose you down like in prison.”

And there it was. Iliza was sweet, but she was more sassy than not and I had forgotten that till she decided to remind me. 

“Maybe he doesn’t want to. Maybe he wants to go home and go to bed like a reasonable person. It’s almost 2 AM after all,” I said. 

“I’m good. I’ll help you shower.” I could hear the smile in his voice as I closed my eyes. 

“Fine, let’s go,” I said with a sigh as I walked to the bathroom. Our apartment’s bathroom was set up almost like a school’s with two stalls and a standing shower as well as a set of sinks that went along the wall across from the shower. It was much easier to use for both of us to get things done than a standard bathroom. “Oh, wait, I gotta get clothes,” I said, pausing when I realized that we only had towels in the bathroom. Normally it wasn’t a problem, but I didn’t think that Iliza would want us walking around naked. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Link said, gently guiding me away from the doorway before closing it. “First, we’re going to take a look at those arms and hands, then shower.” 

“Okay,” I said with a shrug. Showing him where the first aid kit was, Link took my arms to carefully look over my arms. Nothing was blistering or really bad, I just had a lot of red patches and lines. They didn’t even hurt that much. It was my hand that was really the problem. Carefully, he unbandaged it only to wince when he got the red soaked bandage off. 

“Gosh, girl,” he said. “You said you nicked it, not damn near slice your thumb off.” 

“It’s really not that bad, just a little sore,” I said. I bit my lip as he looked over the long cut between my thumb and forefinger. It wasn’t that deep, but it looked worse than it really was. 

“We’ll clean it up in the shower and bandage it back up afterwards. It’s not bleeding so it should be fine,” he said with a frown. “Alright, clothes off, Kitten.” Without a second thought, I stripped out of my work clothes, a black polo and jeans, before trying to get my bra. I struggled a moment before Link sighed and turned me around. “You really need to work on asking for help instead of just trying to do things on your own,” he said.

“Well, it’s something I’ll work on,” I said. His fingers easily worked the hooks of my bra, letting me slide it off easily. I moved to turn, but his hands held me still as one slowly slid down my back. “What is it?” I asked, getting goosebumps as flashbacks to our first meeting came to mind.

“I can’t get over your freckles,” Link said with a soft chuckle. “I love how they look on you. Like stars in the night sky.” His fingers began to trace lines over my back, making me shiver as he stepped closer. I felt his warm breath ghosting over the back of my neck before his soft lips pressed to my skin. “I’d worship you if you’d let me,” he said softly into my ear. “Kiss up and down your body to map it out, find your secret spots to make you moan or sigh. Maybe see how close we can press into each other before we just melt into one another. Would you let me make an altar to you? Bring you offerings of my soul and body?”

His hands were the only thing holding me up as my knees went weak. How was I supposed to turn this man down? Did I want to? Absolutely not. But. . . The longer he was there, the more attention he paid me, I began to feel a stirring. A longing of sorts for mornings in bed with him, picking out groceries or going to the park with him, something that was so domestic and mundane that it hurt. He was a friend and at that, he was a professional Dom. A sex worker. Someone who probably did this for some of his other friends and for who knew how many other clients. It wouldn’t be fair of me to pursue him, but goddamnit, I missed being in a relationship. That connection. 

Link wasn’t it though and I would have to accept that and move on. Which meant after the shower, there couldn’t be any more sex. No more touching or kissing. Any sort of physical affection would just make my heart ache and as much as I wanted to keep having my cake and eating it too, I knew it wasn’t right. Right at that moment though, I was going to enjoy myself and enjoy his body against mine. 

His fingers moved from my hips to between my legs, cupping me to have a finger stroke between my folds. I moaned as he began to press into me, holding me up as he stoked a fire inside me that kept me from pushing away. All I could do was hold onto him, keep myself upright as he fingered me. 

“God, you’re so wet for me,” Link breathed into my ear. “Such a good Kitten, getting so fuckin’ slick for me. You’re pussy is begging for my cock to pound it, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh,” I said with a nod. 

“I bet it could use a good pounding after today,” he groaned. “Such a hard shift and you’re all knotted up in stress. Would you like that? Do you want Sir to pound that pussy till you’re screaming?”

“God, yes!” I cried out as he began to thrust his finger into me hard and fast. “Please, Sir,” I whined. “Please pound my pussy with your cock.”

“Good girl,” Link said, nipping at my neck. “Bend over the sink to show me that pretty pussy of yours.” Pulling his finger out, I whined before doing as I was told. Bending over the sink to spread my legs for him, all while being careful of my hand, I looked over my shoulder to see him unzipping his pants. Still fully clothed aside from pulling his dick out, Link slid into me easily. There was something about him still in his jacket and shoes while I was completely nude that had me even more turned on. “There we go, good Kitten,” he moaned. 

He filled me up completely and perfectly that I could have just worked my hips with him staying still and still cum. Link’s hands ran over my back, making me arch into his touch as I bit my lip. A quick swat to my ass had me yelping before he suddenly began to jack hammer into me. I cried out, moaning as he kept going without mercy. 

“That’s it, keep taking my cock like a good girl,” Link moaned as he gripped my hips in a vice hold. I was sure there’d be bruises the next day, but right then I couldn’t care less. 

“Thank you, Sir,” I sobbed as he kept the pace harsh and fast. It was almost too much, following a fine line of pain and pleasure and each time I thought the scales would tip, his fingers brushed over my clit to make it level again. On hand left my hips, reaching up to pull my hair, forcing my head to look up in the mirror and see myself as he fucked me. 

“That’s it, keep watching. I wanna see that face of yours when you cum from being fucked by my cock,” he growled, not missing a beat. My mouth hung open as he angled himself differently, taking my breath away. Even though Iliza was right outside in the living room, I couldn’t help the choked moans Link forced out of me. The whole thing was intense and it shoved every thought from my head, leaving me a panting, moaning mess that crumbled as Link ran his fingers over my clit a few times and I was cumming around him hard. 

Crying out and shaking, I looked at Link’s face in the mirror as he kept thrusting through my orgasm. His lips were slightly parted as he panted, his brows furrowing before he pulled out. One hand kept me in place as the other stroked his cock through his own orgasm, white ropes shooting out across my ass and lower back. We stood there a few moments, catching our breath before Link stripped as well then turned on the shower. He pulled me up, turning me around to bracket his arms around me, pinning me to the sink as our lips crashed against each other in a hungry kiss. His tongue took over and I tasted what he truly was and it was delicious. Nothing else besides Link was in that kiss, not the taste of my sex, not sweat, just Link. 

Once the shower was steaming, he pulled me under the water with him. We took our time, enjoying the post coital touching as he washed me then himself. After the shower, he wrapped me in a large, fluffy towel before grabbing one for himself. Link put ointment and a fresh bandage on my hand as well as aloe vera on my burns. All the while, he would press soft kisses to my head or my hands, making me feel that ache for more even worse. Done with that, he took me to my room, only leaving me to grab a bottle of water. 

I was surprised he moved us to lay in my bed together. What was he doing? Did he have feelings for me? That couldn’t be. He was a professional at this. It was what he did for me the first time in the club. It was probably routine and he knew how to read what I wanted. That was what he had said. ‘Good Doms can read what Subs need.’ The whole thing was one sided and I just had to push it out of my head and accept it. 

Not that he made it easy. Laying in bed, he held me close as I rested my head on his chest. He had me sip water as he stroked my hair, all the while I listened to his heart beat. It was steady and strong, encouraging me to pass out on him.

I wasn’t sure what time it was when I woke up again, but it was daylight. I looked at my clock to see it read 10 :30AM. It took me a moment as I stretched and looked around, that when I tried to snuggle back against Link, I realized he wasn’t there. His scent, despite using my soaps and shampoos, still lingered on my bed though. My stomach dropped as I tried to hold back tears. 

He was just a friend. 

Link didn’t have to stay the night, he didn’t have to do what he did. I should be grateful he did as much as that. Getting up, I ignored my aching heart. I dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top before calling work and quitting over the phone. It was done and over with, but after the previous night it didn’t seem like such a big deal. 

Going to the kitchen, I found Iliza sipping on a cup of coffee in her pajamas as she scrolled on her computer. “Hey sleepy head,” she said, giving me a smile as I walked over to her. “You feel better?”

“I guess,” I said, sitting across from her. “I called in and quit. So I’ll probably take the day to just. . . Kinda take it easy.”

“Good! I’m glad to hear that,” she said before frowning. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Where’s Link?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“He went home last night. You passed out and he left so you could get some rest,” Iliza said. “Erin. . .”

“I don’t think I should see him for a while,” I said, choking up. “This wasn’t a good idea.”

“Oh Erin,” Iliza said softly. 

“I really like him and I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s not supposed to be like that, but. . . I’m sorry,” I said before just breaking down completely again. “I didn’t mean to like him so much.”

“It’s okay,” Iliza said, getting up to come around the table to hold me close. “I should have known better. I’m so sorry you’re hurting.” All I could do was cling to her and cry because I couldn’t say anything. I was embarrassed and felt stupid and weak. I depended on people so much it seemed and I felt like a burden. Link was better off without me.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooooooo, this is a new thing. I've gotten like three different one shots written for The Pack, but I need to edit those, but in the mean time, here's this again! Also shout out to redtessa for just giving me all the awesome juice to keep doing this bullshit that I do.


End file.
